St Peter's Church in Fairfield, Buxton, is one of over 100 churches to be offered a grant as part of the £5.2M Demonstrator Churches project from the Church of England’s Net Zero Programme.
This aims to help 114 churches in 2024 and 2025 pay for items such as solar panels, heat pumps, insulation, secondary glazing, LED lighting and infrared heating systems.
The Victorian church has been given funding for net zero projects as part of a new project from the Church of England.
As work progresses, the network of Demonstrator Churches - representing many different types of community and situations - will share what they have learned more widely with dioceses and parishes so that all Church of England churches can learn from their experiences.
Fairfield St Peter has received a Church of England Demonstrator Churches grant of £15,000 to explore transforming its carbon footprint and energy use by replacing its defunct boiler with a low-carbon alternative. The grant will be used to employ consultants to assess the alternatives and the needs of the church going forwards.
The Revd Howard Robson, priest-in-charge, said: “We’re delighted to have been selected by the Diocese of Derby to be a Demonstrator Church and showcase what can be done to reduce a church’s carbon emissions, and we're keen top see what he consultants come up with!"
“Climate change is having negative effects on communities everywhere and by exploring how to best make changes to reduce our own emissions, we can play a part in tackling the problem and make a real difference.
"We’re pleased we'll be able to share our experience, knowing we can help other churches in our area with their net-zero projects.”
Abi Hiscock, Project and Grants Manager for the Church of England’s Net Zero Demonstrator Churches Project, said: “Ultimately, we want to demonstrate that with the right support and infrastructure, churches from diverse settings and facing a variety of challenges can reach net zero by 2030.
“By the end of this project, we will have over 100 case studies on what to do and when, and what not to do. Along the way, the supported churches are all required to act as champions to other churches in their dioceses or geographically near to them, or simply to other churches working from similar baselines to them, so that the learnings from these projects engage, influence and support this vision.”
It is hoped the project will reduce carbon emissions by 6,615 tonnes by 2030 – targeting some of the highest emitting churches across the UK.
The Demonstrator Churches project is part of the Church of England’s ambitious Net Zero Carbon Programme which aims to equip, resource and support all parts of the Church to reduce carbon emissions from the energy used in its buildings, schools and through work-related transport by 2030.
